Sunderland slipped out of the League One play-off places following Sheffield Wednesday's 4-1 win over Cheltenham Town. But one solace for Alex Neil and Co is that the games in hand situation has now largely disappeared following a weekend on inactivity for the Black Cats.
The international break means several sides have now caught up on their outstansing fixtures, with only second-placed Wigan Athletic and tenth-placed Portsmouth having played less than Sunderland in ther promotion pack. And it should now mean a straight run to the finish line for all sides hoping to feature in the end-of-season play-offs.
Wednesday climbed into the play-off places after coming from behind to beat Cheltenham at Hillsborough. The Owls found themselves behind in the fourth minute when Alfie May fired past home goalkeeper Bailey Peacock-Farrell.
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But Wednesday were soon back on level terms, with Massimo Luongo scoring in the seventh minute following a corner. Lee Gregory put the hosts in front for the first time in the 58th minute when he found the bottom corner from distance. Jack Hunt got Wednesday's third with a fine effort in the 83rd minute before George Byers completed the scoring.
At the other end of the table, Gillingham took a big step away from the relegation zone with a 2-1 win at Accrington. Charlie Kelman opened the scoring in the 64th minute when he headed in the rebound after Vadaine Oliver's shot had been saved by young goalkeeper Liam Isherwood.
Oliver made it 2-0 in the 73rd minute when he beat Isherwood to a high ball and headed into the net, before Colby Bishop pulled a goal back from the penalty spot in added time. With 21st-placed AFC Wimbledon losing 1-0 to Cambridge following Adam May's strike early in the second half, Gillingham now find themselves four points clear of the drop zone.
Ipswich gave their play-off hopes a boost as Sam Morsy scored the only goal in a 1-0 victory over promotion-chasing Plymouth. Jayden Stockley's second-half goal earned Charlton a 1-0 win at struggling Doncaster.
Conor Washington missed a penalty in the first half as home goalkeeper Jonathan Mitchell went the right way after Corey Blackett-Taylor had been brought down in the box by Kyle Knoyle. Stockley found the net in the 66th minute, poking into the bottom corner from the middle of the box before hitting the bar eight minutes later. Elsewhere, Daniel Udoh's late strike handed Shrewsbury a 1-0 home win over Lincoln.
Sunderland are now seventh in the League One table, just two points behind Sheffield Wednesday and Oxford United, both of which have a better goal difference. The Black Cats return to action next Saturday (April 2) against Gillingham at the Stadium of Light, before travelling to Oxford for a potential promotion 'six-pointer' on April. 9.
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